Established in 1910, we're the 8th oldest Rotary club in the world. We believe in the power of in-person connections over online networking, enhancing our beautiful local community, and contributing to the well-being of the world we live in. We'd be delighted if you'd join us at our next club meeting, every Thursday at noon at the Tacoma Yacht Club.

Rotary is an international organization whose purpose is to bring together business and professional leaders to provide humanitarian services, to encourage high ethical standards in all vocations, and to advance goodwill and peace around the world. Rotary is open to all people regardless of race, color, creed, religion, gender, or political preference. There are more than 1.2 million Rotarians in over 34,000 Rotary clubs worldwide. The Rotary motto is "service above self.”

Within Tacoma, the Rotary Club of Tacoma (known as Rotary #8) donates grants to non-profit organizations, recommended by the Community Grants Committee, that serve low-income children and seniors. Rotary 8 also has several “hands-on” projects where Rotarians offer their service. Some of these "hands on" projects are:

. Food Drives and Repacks - for the Emergency Food Network. Every quarter the club donates items and cash to support local food banks and other non rpofits as well as repackacking food for distribution in the community; and

Rotary #8 has international projects such as clean water projects in Ethiopia and India, has brought firefighting equipment to Mexico, and has delivered school materials to Malawi. Tacoma Rotarians have given Polio immunizations to children in India and Africa.

Throughout the world, Rotary Clubs, including Rotary #8, have contributed more than $900 million to eradicate polio in the world. More than one half billion children in developing countries have been immunized against polio, through Rotary’s PolioPlus campaign.

Rotary’s Youth Exchange sends 7,000 high-school age students abroad each year, to study in another country and to learn about its society and culture. The goal is to promote world peace. Rotary 8 has incoming students from Paraguay (Renata) and Norway (Jacob) this year and our outbound student Rizley who will be studying in Slovakia.

Presidential message

Barry Rassin

President 2018-19

November 2018

One early June, more than 30 years ago, I had a business trip scheduled to Las Vegas. I had been a Rotarian for about six years, and I thought of myself as an active member: I attended every meeting, I’d served as club secretary, I knew everyone in my club. But for me, Rotary was very much a community organization. It connected me to Nassau and perhaps even to the Bahamas — but no farther.

I had never given much thought to Rotary beyond the Bahamas, and it had never crossed my mind to travel to a Rotary convention. But that spring, I realized that my trip to Las Vegas would coincide with the Rotary International Convention and thought, why not? I sent in my registration and paid my fees, never suspecting that the experience would change my life.

When I walked through the doors of that convention, I was stunned. It was one thing to know that I was part of a global organization with over a million members around the world. It was something else altogether to stand there in the middle of it. I went to every general session, looked in at every booth at the House of Friendship, and learned about projects that I hadn’t even known you could do in Rotary. That convention didn’t just open my eyes. It opened my mind. It inspired me to completely change the way I saw Rotary, what Rotary could do for me, and what I could do through Rotary. That inspiration has stayed with me ever since — and is renewed every year, at every Rotary convention.

In June 2019, Rotarians from all over the world will converge in Hamburg to Capture the Moment at the 110th Rotary International Convention. Many, like me, will have been coming to conventions for years; many others will be coming for the first time. Whether they’re looking to connect with old friends, to find inspiration for a new Rotary year, or simply to see what Rotary is all about, each of them will find their own moment in Hamburg.

Hamburg is a port city that connects Germany to the world and that has been an economic and cultural hub for centuries. It’s a wonderful place to visit — to stroll the shores of the city’s lake, take a boat trip on the Elbe River, dine out, hear great music, and explore fascinating museums. It’s also the ideal place to kick off a European vacation.

If you’re a regular convention goer, you absolutely won’t want to miss out on the friendship and inspiration you’ll find in Hamburg. And if you’ve never been to a convention, please consider this my personal invitation. Register at riconvention.org by 15 December for the best rate — and let this convention Be the Inspiration for your Rotary journey.